The present invention relates to an airbag and an airbag apparatus for protecting an occupant in case of vehicle collision or the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to an airbag and an airbag apparatus having a left half airbag and a right half airbag to be deployed on a left side and a right side of the occupant, respectively.
As an airbag for protecting an occupant in case of vehicle collision or the like, Japanese Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 04-292239 has disclosed an airbag having a left half airbag and a right half airbag to be deployed on a left side and a right side of the occupant by a common inflator, respectively. In the airbag of the publication, the left half airbag and the right half airbag are connected at distal ends thereof by a tie panel. The airbag is folded and stored in a case, and covered by a cover. When the inflator (gas generator) is actuated to eject gas upon vehicle collision, the airbag is deployed in front of the occupant while pushing and opening the cover.
The inflator is disposed inside or outside of the airbag at a base side thereof. In an airbag apparatus having the inflator disposed outside the airbag, the gas from the inflator is supplied into the airbag through a gas inlet provided in the airbag at the base side. In an airbag having the inflator disposed inside the airbag, the entire inflator may be disposed in the air bag, or a part of the inflator may be disposed in the airbag. As an example of the latter, an airbag includes a pair of slit openings, and a rod-shaped inflator is inserted into the slit openings with both ends thereof projecting out from the airbag.
In the airbag having the left half airbag and the right half airbag disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 04-292239, when the left half airbag and the right half airbag have large capacities in the inflated state, it is necessary to employ an inflator having a large capacity in order to deploy the airbag quickly.
In the airbag disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 04-292239, the left half airbag and the right half airbag are connected at the distal ends by the tie panel. Therefore, when the airbag is deployed, the tie panel receives a lateral center of the body of the occupant.
In the airbag disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 04-292239, when the left half airbag and the right half airbag are deployed, one of the airbags may receive more gas from the inflator, and thus the other airbag may be inflated later than the one of the airbags. In the airbag disclosed in the publication, the left half airbag and the right half airbag are connected by the tie panel. Thus, it is expected that even when one of the airbags is inflated later, the other of the airbags may pull and facilitate the one of the airbags to be deployed via the tie panel in a direction that the airbag deploys. However, the tie panel connects the left half airbag and the right half airbag at the distal ends thereof. Therefore, the one of the airbags can pull the other of the airbags sufficiently via the tie panel only after the one of the airbags is deployed up to the distal end.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an airbag and an airbag apparatus in which a left half airbag and a right half airbag are deployed sufficiently quickly even when an inflator has a relatively small capacity.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an airbag and an airbag apparatus in which the left half airbag receives a left thorax of the occupant, the right half airbag receives a right thorax, and a space between the half airbags faces the center of the thorax of the occupant.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an airbag and an airbag apparatus in which both of the left half airbag and the right half airbag are deployed smoothly and substantially symmetrically from an early stage of the deployment.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.